Vat reclaim- copy written on invoice. Please help.

[LouiseO]

I'm really concerned. 

 

I see that hmrc only want orginal invoices not copy's for vat reclaim and I'm worried I'm going to lose out on a lot of money. 

 The builders merchant emailed all invoices over but they have a watermark of the word " copy" over them . I've been back to them and they said there is nothing they can do. These are the only invoices I have received from them.

 

Are these going to be rejected? 

[ToughButterCup]

Ring the HMRC helpline. They do actually answer it. 

[LouiseO]

I have tried but they are shut today. I will give them a call Monday I was just hoping someone could give some advice to put my mind at rest until then. 

[ToughButterCup]

At worst, the HMRC might ask you to send them a letter from the merchant confirming that the invoices you have are the customer copy. HMRC are stuck in the 19th century. If I were you I wouldn't give it a second thought. They have to be seen to act fairly. It might be a pain in the Botticelli to get them to be fair, but they still have to behave decently.

[Thedreamer]

2 hours ago, LouiseO said:

I'm really concerned. 

 

I see that hmrc only want orginal invoices not copy's for vat reclaim and I'm worried I'm going to lose out on a lot of money. 

 The builders merchant emailed all invoices over but they have a watermark of the word " copy" over them . I've been back to them and they said there is nothing they can do. These are the only invoices I have received from them.

 

Are these going to be rejected? 

 

I would ask the building merchant, who received the actual invoice?

 

They probably don't want the hassle of reissuing these to you. They can reissue these to you as all companies must hold VAT records for a period of time. A water mark can be easily removed from an accounting system.

 

Are we talking a big merchant or a local merchant? 

 

Try where possible to remove any complexity in dealing with the HMRC. If you do phone and receive the go ahead for an extra supporting document. Quote time, date, case reference per your call, when you do eventually make the submission to back up your approach.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Thedreamer
Typo

[LouiseO]

Its a local kind of merchant - collier and catchpole.  They sent all invoices electronically with the copy on all of them. 

We went back to them but they said they cannot remove the water mark. They said they spoke to "tech " and accounts but there is nothing they can do further. We have spoken a few times but always the same outcome. 

[DamonHD]

Then they are breaking the law, ie not operating VAT correctly.

 

Rgds

 

Damon

[Temp]

I would try for a letter as @ToughButterCup suggests.

[Temp]

I think you maybe ok. This isn't about self build but worth a read..

 

https://www.all-paul.co.uk/post/2013/10/09/do-you-need-original-paper-vat-receipts-to-claim-back-vat

 

It suggest HMRC may ask for copy invoices in some case.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Temp

[Thedreamer]

4 hours ago, LouiseO said:

Its a local kind of merchant - collier and catchpole.  They sent all invoices electronically with the copy on all of them. 

We went back to them but they said they cannot remove the water mark. They said they spoke to "tech " and accounts but there is nothing they can do further. We have spoken a few times but always the same outcome. 

 

Do you have web/online account with them, maybe the invoice would not have watermark on them if you download them rather than have them emailed?

[Jac]

Hi LouiseO

 

I phoned HMRC self build helpline this morning with that very same question.  Lady I spoke to did not fill me with confidence.  She said my mountain of invoices with “copy” printed on them would “probably” be ok.  Not the definitive reply I was looking for so I called back this afternoon and a young chap wasn’t too helpful either.  He muttered something about “due to Covid, most companies emailed invoices”.  Again, not really the assurance I was seeking.  
 

it’s so frustrating as I don’t think it’s such a hard question!!!  
 

 I’ll now try to find an email address, where if I get an answer that the invoices are ok to send, I can print off the reply and send with the claim form.

[Bozza]

My Vat reclaim was paid out a month or so ago.  Amongst my claims package were some normal till type receipts, and some of the builders merchants (Jewsons) had “copy” printed on.  Some were online printouts eg screwfix etc etc as printed original stuff seems to have fallen by wayside during pandemic.  Some had my old address on.  I’d say 50% of my submission included things which weren’t quite up to the paperwork definition required by HMRC.  No issues and I received 100% payout without any quibbles.  

 

my overall claim was modest and I did put a covering letter letter explaining everything that could have been potentially questioned or why there wasn’t a “proper” invoice.

[Jac]

10 hours ago, Bozza said:

My Vat reclaim was paid out a month or so ago.  Amongst my claims package were some normal till type receipts, and some of the builders merchants (Jewsons) had “copy” printed on.  Some were online printouts eg screwfix etc etc as printed original stuff seems to have fallen by wayside during pandemic.  Some had my old address on.  I’d say 50% of my submission included things which weren’t quite up to the paperwork definition required by HMRC.  No issues and I received 100% payout without any quibbles.  

 

my overall claim was modest and I did put a covering letter letter explaining everything that could have been potentially questioned or why there wasn’t a “proper” invoice.

Thank you, Bozza.  That’s really good to hear.  I’ll attach a letter as you did to explain anything out of the ordinary.

Good advice.

 

 

 

[acorncottage12]

I have this same worry, so many of my invoices say 'copy' on them.

 

Hoping an explanation letter and emails from the companies might help them to go through as its a big chunk of our claim.

 

[jack]

3 hours ago, acorncottage12 said:

I have this same worry, so many of my invoices say 'copy' on them.

 

Hoping an explanation letter and emails from the companies might help them to go through as its a big chunk of our claim.

 

I doubt you'll have an issue. We had all sorts of copies downloaded from, eg, Screwfix, till receipts with no name, even a couple of invoices in the wrong name (one was in the name of our tiler, the other was in some random name due to an error by the supplier). We explained any oddities in the covering letter and not a single invoice was queried.